Transferable micro spring structure

ABSTRACT

A method for mounting the micro spring structures onto cables or contact structures includes forming a spring island having an “upside-down” stress bias on a first release material layer or directly on a substrate, forming a second release material over at least a portion of the spring island, and then forming a base structure over the second release material layer. The micro spring structure is then transferred in an unreleased state, inverted such that the base structure contacts a surface of a selected apparatus, and then secured (e.g., using solder reflow techniques) such that the micro spring structure becomes attached to the apparatus. The spring structure is then released by etching or otherwise removing the release material layer(s).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention generally relates to stress-engineered metal films, andmore particularly to photo lithographically patterned micro-springstructures formed from stress-engineered metal films.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Photolithographically patterned micro spring structures (sometimesreferred to as “microsprings”) have been developed, for example, toproduce low cost probe cards, and to provide electrical connectionsbetween integrated circuits. A typical spring structure includes aspring finger having an anchor portion secured to a substrate, and afree (cantilevered) portion extending from the anchored portion over thesubstrate. The spring finger is formed from a stress-engineered film(i.e., a (e.g., metal) film fabricated such that portions closer to theunderlying substrate have a higher internal compressive stress than itsportions located farther from the substrate) that is at least partiallyformed on a release material layer. The free portion of the springfinger bends away from the substrate when the release material locatedunder the free portion is etched away. The internal stress gradient isproduced in the spring by layering, e.g., different metals having thedesired stress characteristics, or by using a single metal by alteringthe fabrication parameters. Such spring structures may be used in probecards, for electrically bonding integrated circuits, circuit boards, andelectrode arrays, and for producing other devices such as inductors,variable capacitors, and actuated mirrors. For example, when utilized ina probe card application, the tip of the free portion is brought intocontact with a contact pad formed on an integrated circuit, and signalsare passed between the integrated circuit and test equipment via theprobe card (i.e., using the spring structure as a conductor). Otherexamples of such spring structures are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.3,842,189 (Southgate) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,861 (Smith).

A problem associated with the manufacture of various products includingmicro spring structures is that the conventional micro springfabrication processes require either physically locating the productinto the associated micro spring structure manufacturing tool (e.g., asputter deposition chamber), or pre-fabricating the micro springstructures on a substrate, and then securing the substrate to theproduct (i.e., such that the substrate is located between the springstructures and the product). For example, in order to produce a flexiblecable having micro spring structures located on the cable's conductors,the flexible cable must either be inserted into the manufacturing tool,or the micro spring structures must be pre-fabricated on a conductivesubstrate that is then mounted onto the exposed conductors of the cable.Placing the flexible cable in the manufacturing tool increasesproduction complexity (i.e., the flexible cable must be able to survivethe fabrication process), and significantly decreases productionefficiency due to the large amount of space needed to accommodate theflexible cable. Conversely, pre-fabrication requires releasing the microspring structures, and then transferring the released spring structuresto an assembly point, this process greatly increasing the risk ofdamaging the relatively fragile micro-spring structures. Further,because the substrate on which the spring structures are formed ismounted on the selected product, either the substrate must be formedwith integrated conductive and/or insulated regions, or the substratemust be diced into very small pieces prior to the mounting process. Ineither case, the cost and complexity of producing products having microspring structures is greatly increased, thereby significantly reducingmanufacturing efficiencies and greatly increasing manufacturing costs.

What is needed is a method for transferring pre-fabricated micro springstructures that both protects the relatively fragile spring structure,and facilitates a relatively simple and reliable process for mountingthe spring structures onto a selected product.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a pre-fabricated micro springstructure that includes a stress-engineered spring formed on asubstrate, and a base structure formed over the stress-engineeredspring. Instead of mounting the substrate to a selected product, themicro spring structure is inverted, and the base structure is mountedonto the selected product using, for example, standard solder reflowtechniques. The springs remain unreleased during the transport andassembly process, thereby protecting the relatively fragilestress-engineered spring during these processes, which greatly increasesproduction efficiencies. The substrate is then removed and thestress-engineered spring is released, thereby providing a simple andreliable process for mounting the spring structures onto a selectedproduct.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a method isprovided for producing an apparatus (e.g., the exposed conductor tips ofa flexible cable) including a micro spring structure in a manner thanminimizes the risk of damage to the relatively fragile micro springstructures during production. The micro spring structure ispre-fabricated by forming a release material layer on a substrate, thenforming a spring material island (i.e., unreleased strip of springmaterial) on the release material layer such that the spring materialisland has an “upside-down” stress gradient (i.e., such that thesubsequently released micro spring finger would bend downward instead ofaway from the underlying substrate). A release material pad is thenformed over a free (first) portion of the spring material island, and abase structure is formed over the release material pad and an anchor(second) portion of the spring material island. The entire structure isthen transferred to a desired location, inverted such that the basestructure faces a surface of an apparatus to which the micro springstructure is to be attached, and then the base structure is secured(e.g., using solder or a conductive adhesive) to the apparatus surfaceof the apparatus (i.e., such that the substrate is located above thespring finger). A suitable etchant is then used to remove the releasematerial, which causes the substrate to separate from the spring island,and causes the free end of the spring island to release from the basestructure and to bend away from the substrate due to the internal stressgradient, thereby providing a low-cost apparatus including the microspring structure, while minimizing the risk of damage to the microspring structure during the transfer process.

In accordance with another embodiment, the spring material island isformed directly onto the substrate (or via an adhesive), and thesubstrate separation and spring release process involves the separatesteps of peeling, etching away, or otherwise removing the substrate, andthen etching the release material to release the spring structure.Alternatively, different release materials may be utilized above andbelow the spring structure (e.g., using a relatively weak releasematerial to facilitate relatively easy removal of the substrate, and arelatively strong release material that is then etched to release thespring structures).

In accordance with a yet another embodiment of the present invention,multiple micro spring structures are formed in a predefined pattern onsubstrate, and then the substrate is inverted and the micro springstructures are mounted onto corresponding contact pads provided on atarget apparatus, where the contact pads are arranged to “mirror” thepredefined pattern. The multiple micro spring structures are thensecured and released (and the substrate removed) in the manner describedabove. Accordingly, the present invention provides a relatively simpleand reliable method for producing an apparatus including a large numberof electrically-isolated micro spring structures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the presentinvention will become better understood with regard to the followingdescription, appended claims, and accompanying drawings, where:

FIG. 1 is a simplified perspective view showing an apparatus including aplurality of micro spring structures;

FIG. 2 is cross-sectional side view showing the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cut-away perspective view of a micro spring structureaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 4(A) through 4(H) are cross-sectional side views depictingportions of a fabrication method for producing and mounting the microspring structure shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing a method for mountingseveral micro spring structures on an apparatus according to anotherembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the apparatus of FIG. 5 with themicro spring structures mounted thereon.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is described below with reference to specificexamples in which micro spring structures are mounted onto flexiblecables and printed circuit boards. While these examples illustrate apractical use for the present invention, the disclosed examples areintended to be exemplary, and not intended to limit the appended claimsunless otherwise specified. In particular, those skilled in the art willunderstand that the methods and micro spring structures of the presentinvention can be modified to produce a wide range of products withvarious micro spring and other Micro Electro Mechanical System (MEMS)structures (e.g., bimorphs) formed thereon.

FIGS. 1 and 2 are perspective and cross-sectional side views showingportions of an interconnect assembly 100 according to a specificembodiment of the present invention. In particular, FIGS. 1 and 2 showportions of a first flexible cable 120 and a second flexible cable 140.Flexible cables 120 and 140 are, for example, surface microstrip-typeflexible flat cables or stripline-type flexible flat cables. Note thatthe specific structures associated with flexible flat cable 120 areintended to be exemplary, and not intended to limit the appended claimsunless otherwise specified.

First flexible cable 120 includes conductors 125, each having an exposed(tip) portion 129 located adjacent to a free end 123 of flexible cable120, and second flexible cable 140 includes conductors 145, each havingexposed (tip) portions 149 located adjacent to free end 143 of flexiblecable 140. As indicated in FIG. 2, an optional connector structure,which is generally indicated by a first portion 151 and a second portion153, is utilized to secure first flexible cable 120 to second flexiblecable 140 such that each conductor 125 is electrically connected to anassociated conductor 145 in the manner described below.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, severalconductive micro spring structures 200, which are interface members thatare fabricated in the manner described below, are provided on cable 120to produce an interface arrangement that is low resistance (i.e., lessthan 1Ω, and more preferably less than 50 mΩ), mechanically compliant toabsorb conductor height variations, mechanically tolerant (i.e.,resistant to shock and vibration-induced damage), and which providesredundant contact points between conductors 125 and 145. In addition, bypositioning micro spring fingers 200 on the exposed portion 129 and byaccurately aligning and mating this portion 129 to the correspondingportion 149, the present embodiment facilitates highly efficient signaltransfer between flexible cables 120 and 140 by providing aninterconnect assembly that maintains a uniform impedance and EM fielddistribution with respect to the signal and ground conductors throughoutthe connector-cable interfaces with artifacts that only occur in regionsthat are smaller (i.e., narrower) than a fraction of the signalwavelength. More specifically, detailed finite element modelingdemonstrated that the micro spring structures 200 should be spaced apartin the direction of the wave propagation by no more than a fifth of thesignal wavelength (i.e., with a tip-to-tip spacing S1 as shown in FIG.2). Although indicated with the micro spring structures bent forillustrative purposes, the mating portions 129 and 149 are preferablyfully compressed against each other with the micro spring structuresrolled out flat, leaving no air gap in between. The finite elementmodeling showed that an air layer S2 (FIG. 2) that is thinner than1/50^(th) of a signal wavelength is acceptable. A maximum gap S3 of1/25^(th) between the butting cable ends in the direction of the wavepropagation was also found acceptable. The latter corresponds to about100 μm at 50 GHz indicating that the cable ends can be trimmed byconventional flex circuit manufacturing techniques. The acceptabilitycriterion used to determine the above margins was a maximal artifact of1 dB in the S₁₂ transfer characteristic and the S₁₁ reflectioncharacteristic.

As indicated in FIGS. 2 and 3, conductive micro spring structures 200include base structures 210 and spring fingers 220 that bend away fromconductor 125 of first cable 120 to facilitate reliable contact withcorresponding conductor 145 of second cable 140. Note that the specificstructure of micro spring structures 200 disclosed herein is intended tobe exemplary, and not limiting unless otherwise specified in the claims.As indicated in FIG. 3, each base portion 210 includes an inner frame212 and an outer contact portion 215, and each spring finger 220includes an anchor portion 222 and a free portion 225 defining a tip229. Anchor portion 222 of each micro spring finger 220 is attached to asupport portion 213 of inner frame 212 such that anchor 222 extendsparallel to the surface of exposed portion 129 (i.e., parallel to axisX₁₂₅; see FIG. 2). Free portion 225 of each micro spring finger 220extends from anchor portion 222, and is “released” (detached) from innerframe 212 and underlying conductor 125 (i.e., not adhered or otherwisesecured, but may be in contact). As described in detail below, microspring fingers 220 are produced such that an internal stress gradientbiases free portions 225 away from base structure 210 and flexible cable120, thereby producing the indicated curved shape that points tips 229in a direction away from exposed portion 129 of conductor 125. Asdepicted in FIG. 2, when second cable 140 is positioned over and pressedagainst first flexible cable 120 (e.g., by forces F1 and F2 respectivelyexerted by connector structure portions 151 and 153), tips 229 contactexposed portions 149 of flexible cable 140, thereby providing amulti-contact interface arrangement that facilitates reliable signaltransmissions between conductors 125 and 145.

FIGS. 4(A) to 4(H) are simplified cross-sectional side views showing amethod for producing a flexible cable having a micro spring structuremounted thereon according to another embodiment of the presentinvention. Again, while the novel production method is described withreference to flexible cables, it is noted that this method may beutilized to produce a wide range of apparatus.

Referring to FIGS. 4(A), the method begins by forming (e.g., sputtering)an optional release material layer 410 (e.g., Ti) to a thickness ofapproximately 0.05 microns or greater on a substrate 401. Becausesubstrate 401 is ultimately separated from the spring structure anddiscarded, substrate 401 may be formed using a material that facilitatesthe selected separation process (e.g., a rigid material whenetch-separation is used, an easily etched material (e.g., silicon) whenthe substrate is etched away, and a flexible film when peeling isutilized during separation). In addition to titanium, other releasematerials having the beneficial characteristics of titanium may also beused to form release layer 410. In other embodiments, release materiallayer 410 includes another metal, such as aluminum (Al), or anon-conducting material such as silicon (Si) or silicon nitride (SiN).Further, two or more release material layers can be sequentiallydeposited to form a multi-layer structure. In yet another possibleembodiment, any of the above-mentioned release materials can besandwiched between two non-release material layers (i.e., materials thatare not removed during the spring release process, described below).Note that substrate 401 is ultimately discarded, and therefore can beformed using low-cost and/or non-conductive materials (e.g., a suitableheat-resistant plastic).

Subsequently, as shown in FIGS. 4(B) and 4(C), a stressed spring island420-1 is formed, for example, by sputtering or plating a spring materiallayer 420 onto release layer 410 (or directly onto substrate 401 whenrelease layer 410 is absent), and then utilizing a mask 430 to etchexposed portions of the spring material. In one embodiment, springmaterial layer 420 is a stress-engineered film formed such that itincludes internal stress variations in the growth direction (that is,the internal stress varies in proportion to its vertical thickness ordistance from the release layer 410). Methods for generating internalstress variations in spring material film 420 are taught, for example,in U.S. Pat. No. 3,842,189 (depositing two metals having differentinternal stresses) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,861 (e.g., single metalsputtered while varying process parameters), both of which beingincorporated herein by reference. In one embodiment, stress-engineeredspring material film 420 includes one or more metals suitable forforming a micro spring finger (e.g., one or more of molybdenum (Mo), a“moly-chrome” alloy (MoCr), tungsten (W), a titanium-tungsten alloy(Ti:W), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), zirconium (Zr), and alloys thereof).Suitable stress-engineered spring material is also formed by plating atleast one of nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), rhodium (Rh), gold(Au), copper (Cu) tin (Sn), zinc (Zn), and palladium (Pd). In otherembodiments, spring material film 420 is formed using Si, nitride,oxide, carbide, or diamond that is subsequently coated with a conductivematerial (e.g., Au (gold)). The thickness of spring material film 420 isdetermined in part by the selected spring material, an applied coating(when used), and the desired spring constant and shape of the finalmicro spring finger.

Note that, unlike typical conventional micro spring fabrication methods(i.e., where the micro spring finger is biased away from the underlyingsubstrate), the stress gradient of spring material layer 420 is formed“upside-down” (i.e., such that a relatively tensile region 420T islocated adjacent release layer 410, and a relatively compressive region420C is located above tensile region 420T). Those skilled in the artwill recognize that this “upside-down” fabrication process involvesreversing the stress or strain producing process described in typicalreferences (e.g., gradually decreasing, instead of increasing, chamberpressure during deposition/sputtering of the spring material).

Etching (FIG. 4(C)) is performed, for example, using cerric ammoniumnitrate solution to selectively remove exposed MoCr spring material. Inanother possible embodiment, the etching step can be performed using theelectro-chemical etching process described in IBM J. Res. Dev. Vol. 42,No. 5, page 655 (Sep. 5, 1998), which is incorporated herein byreference. In addition, more than one mask may be used to form springisland 420-1 and release material island 410-1. Many additional processvariations and material substitutions are therefore possible and theexamples given are not intended to be limiting.

Next, as indicated in FIG. 4(D), a (second) release material portion 450(e.g., Ti) is patterned over a (first) portion 420-1A of spring island420-1 using known techniques. As indicated below, a second portion420-1B of spring material that is not covered by release materialportion 450 serves as the anchor portion in the released micro springstructure.

Referring to FIGS. 4(E) and 4(F), base structure 210 is then formed overan exposed (second) portion 420-1B of spring island 420-1 and releasematerial portion 450, thereby completing an unreleased spring structure400 according to an aspect of the present invention. As indicated inFIG. 4(E), according to one embodiment, inner frame 212 is formed overportion 420-1B and release material portion 450 is then formed, forexample, by sputtering a seed layer over the expose structures, and thenutilizing known electroplating or electroless plating techniques. In oneembodiment, inner frame 212 is formed using (Cu)—Ni—Au alloy, where theuse of copper in the (Cu)—Ni—Au is optional. Next, as indicated in FIG.4(F), outer contact portion 215 (e.g. a solder layer or conductiveadhesive) is formed (e.g., plated, stenciled, or screen printed) oninner frame 212 to complete base structure 210. In an alternativeembodiment (not shown), a resist mask may be used to limit the structurecovered by inner frame 212 and outer contact portion 215. Note that, inan alternative embodiment, the base structure includes only the innerframe, and the solder (or other conductive adhesive) is provided on theapparatus to which the base structure is attached.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the structureshown in FIG. 4(F) (i.e., one or more unreleased spring structures 400mounted on “sacrificial” substrate 401) provides a highly reliablearticle of manufacture that can be used to reliably transfer and mountmicro spring structures onto a target apparatus in the manner describedbelow. Note that an optional dicing process (not shown), using knowntechniques, may then be utilized to separate substrate 401 intopredetermined sections for transfer to one or more apparatus.

Referring to FIG. 4(G), after transferring unreleased spring structure400 to a suitable assembly location, substrate 401 is then inverted andstructure 400 is mounted onto the surface of the selected apparatus(e.g., an exposed conductor portion 129 of a cable 120). Base structure210 is then secured to exposed conductor portion 129, for example, byreflowing the solder-based outer contact portion 215 using knowntechniques. Note that spring island 420-1 is now positioned betweenexposed cable portion 129 and substrate 401.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 4(H), the substrate is removed and releasematerial layers are etched using a suitable etchant 490, therebyreleasing the spring island and forming released spring finger 220(discussed above in detail with reference to FIG. 3). Note that therelease procedure is performed after the substrate/spring is mounted onexposed conductor portion 129, thereby reducing the risk of damage tothe release spring finger during the transfer process. Note also that,as shown in FIG. 4(H), released spring finger 220 has an anchor portion222 (formerly second section 420-1B; FIG. 4(G)) that is electricallyconnected to exposed conductor portion 129 by way of a correspondingsupport portion 213 of inner frame 212, and by way of outer contactportion 215.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are perspective views showing a portion of a manufacturingprocess in which micro spring structures are mounted onto a substrate501 of an apparatus 500 according to another specific example of thepresent invention. As indicated in the lower portion of FIG. 5,substrate 501 (e.g., an active integrated circuit or printed circuitboard) includes several contact (e.g., copper) pads 511, 512 and 513that are arranged in a predetermined pattern and connected to associatedcircuitry (not shown) by associated trace structures. As indicated inthe upper portion of FIG. 5, several unreleased spring structures 400-1through 400-3, each fabricated as described above, are arranged on asubstrate 401A in a pattern that mirrors (matches) the predeterminedpattern formed by contact pads 511-513. During the mounting process,unreleased spring structures are aligned with the contact pads (asindicated in FIG. 5), and then substrate is moved toward apparatus 500such that each unreleased spring structures 400-1 through 400-3 contactsits corresponding contact pad 511-513, respectively, and then secured(e.g., using solder reflow techniques), and then the spring structuresare released using the methods described above. The resulting apparatus500 (shown in FIG. 6) is thereby produced with micro spring structure200-1 through 200-3 attached to pads 511 through 513, respectively.Accordingly, the present invention provides a relatively simple andreliable method for producing apparatus 500 including a large number ofelectrically-isolated micro spring structures 200-1 through 200-3without the need for separating the micro spring structures prior to themounting process.

Although the present invention has been described with respect tocertain specific embodiments, it will be clear to those skilled in theart that the inventive features of the present invention are applicableto other embodiments as well, all of which are intended to fall withinthe scope of the present invention. For example, instead of utilizingrelease material layer 410 (e.g., FIG. 4(A)), stress-engineered springmaterial film 420 (e.g., FIG. 4(B)) can be formed directly on substrate401 (or via a relatively weak adhesive), and substrateseparation/release may involve the separate steps of peeling, etchingaway, or otherwise removing substrate 401, and then etching secondrelease material portion 450 to release the spring structure.Alternatively, different release materials may be utilized to formrelease material portions 410 and 450 (e.g., forming portion 410 using arelatively weak, sticky adhesive that facilitates easy removal ofsubstrate 401, and a relatively strong release material for portion450).

1. A method for producing an apparatus including a micro springstructure, the method comprising: forming a spring island over asubstrate such that the spring island has a stress gradient; forming asecond layer of release material over a first portion of the springisland; forming a base structure over the second layer of releasematerial and a second portion of the spring island; forming a basestructure over the second layer of release material and a second portionof the spring island, thereby completing an unreleased spring structureincluding the substrate, the spring island, the second layer of releasematerial, and the base structure; mounting the unreleased springstructure onto the apparatus by securing the base structure to theapparatus such that the spring island is located between the apparatusand the substrate; and removing the substrate and releasing the secondportion of the spring island by removing the second layer of releasematerial.
 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising forminga first layer of release material on the substrate, wherein forming thespring island comprises forming a spring layer on the first layer ofrelease material, and wherein removing the substrate and releasing thespring island comprises etching the first and second layers of releasematerial.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein forming the springisland comprises forming a spring layer on the substrate, and whereinremoving the substrate comprises etching the substrate.
 4. The methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising forming a layer of adhesive onthe substrate, wherein forming the spring island comprises forming aspring layer on the layer of adhesive, and wherein removing thesubstrate and releasing the spring island comprises peeling thesubstrate from the base structure, and then etching the second layer ofrelease material.
 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein formingthe spring island comprises depositing one or more metals selected frommolybdenum (Mo), tungsten (W), titanium (Ti), chromium (Cr), nickel(Ni), zirconium (Zr) and alloys thereof while altering processparameters such that the deposited one or more metals include arelatively tensile region located adjacent to the substrate, and arelatively compressive region located above the relatively tensileregion.
 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein forming the springisland comprises sputtering molybdenum (Mo) and chromium (Cr), andwherein forming the second layers of release material comprisessputtering titanium (Ti).
 7. The method according to claim 6, whereinforming the base structure comprises forming nickel-gold (Ni—Au) stripson the second layer of release material and a second portion of thespring island, and then forming a solder layer on the Ni—Au strips. 8.The method according to claim 7, wherein securing the base structurecomprises reflowing the solder layer.
 9. The method according to claim1, wherein forming the spring island comprises plating at least one ofnickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), rhodium (Rh), gold (Au), copper(Cu) tin (Sn), zinc (Zn), and palladium (Pd).
 10. A method for producingan apparatus including a micro spring structure, the method comprising:forming a spring island over the substrate such that the spring islandhas a stress gradient; forming a second layer of release material over afirst portion of the spring island; forming a base structure over thesecond layer of release material and a second portion of the springisland; securing the base structure to the apparatus such that thespring island is located between the apparatus and the substrate; andremoving the substrate and releasing the second portion of the springisland by removing the second layer of release material, wherein formingthe base structure comprises selectively forming a conductive innerframe on the second layer of release material and a second portion ofthe spring island, and then forming an outer contact portion on theinner frame.
 11. The method according to claim 10, wherein forming saidinner frame comprises forming gold and nickel (Au—Ni) on the secondportion of the spring island.
 12. The method according to claim 11,wherein the outer contact portion comprises solder, and wherein securingthe base structure comprises reflowing the solder.
 13. A method forproducing an apparatus including a plurality of micro spring structures,the method comprising: forming a plurality of spring islands over asubstrate, the plurality of spring islands being formed with a stressgradient including at least one of a relatively tensile region and arelatively compressive region; forming a plurality of second releasematerial portions, each second release material portion being formedover a first portion of a corresponding spring island; forming aplurality of base structures, each base structure being formed over acorresponding second release material portion and a second portion of anassociated spring island, wherein forming the plurality of basestructures comprises selectively forming a conductive inner frame on thesecond release material portion and a second portion of the springisland, and then forming an outer contact portion on the inner frame.14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising forming aplurality of first release material portions on the substrate, whereinforming the plurality of spring islands comprises forming a spring layeron the plurality of first release material portions, and then patterningthe spring layer to form the plurality of spring islands such that eachspring island is formed on a corresponding first release materialportion.
 15. The method according to claim 13, wherein forming theplurality of spring islands comprises forming a spring layer on thesubstrate, and then patterning the spring layer to form the plurality ofspring islands.
 16. The method according to claim 13, further comprisingforming a layer of adhesive on the substrate, wherein forming the springisland comprises forming a spring layer on the layer of adhesive, andthen patterning the spring layer to form the plurality of spring islandssuch that each spring island is formed on a corresponding portion of theadhesive layer.
 17. The method according to claim 13, wherein theapparatus comprises a plurality of contact pads, and wherein the methodfurther comprises securing the plurality of base structures to theapparatus such that each of the plurality of base structure contacts anassociated contact pad of the plurality of contact pads.
 18. The methodaccording to claim 17, further comprising etching the second releasematerial portions, thereby causing a free portion of each of theplurality of spring islands to bend away from the apparatus.
 19. Themethod according to claim 13, wherein forming the plurality of springislands comprises one of sputtering and plating one or more metalsselected from molybdenum (Mo), tungsten (W), titanium (Ti), chromium(Cr), zirconium (Zr), nickel (Ni), and alloys thereof.
 20. The methodaccording to claim 19, wherein forming the plurality of spring islandscomprises sputtering molybdenum (Mo) and chromium (Cr), and whereinforming the first and second release material portions comprisessputtering titanium (Ti).
 21. The method according to claim 20, whereinforming the plurality of base structures comprises forming nickel-gold(Ni—Au) strips on the second release material portion and a secondportion of the spring island, and then forming a solder layer on theNi—Au strips.
 22. The method according to claim 13, wherein forming theplurality of spring islands comprises plating at least one of nickel(Ni), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), rhodium (Rh), gold (Au), copper (Cu)tin (Sn), zinc (Zn), and palladium (Pd).
 23. The method according toclaim 13, wherein the plurality of spring islands being formed with astress gradient including a relatively tensile region and a relativelycompressive region, and wherein the relatively tensile region is locatedbetween the substrate and the corresponding relatively compressiveregion.